“Pegasus project”: a self-determination activist of Western Sahara spied in Belgium

Mahjoub Mleiha is the fourth victim of the Pegasus spyware on the Belgian soil. He saw his phone infected repeatedly at the beginning of 2021.

by and

Traces of the Pegasus spyware have been discovered in the telephone of a militant for the self-determination of Western Sahara in Belgium, reveal Belgian newspapers. An analysis, conducted by the Security Lab of Amnesty International, showed that a phone used by Mahjoub Mleiha, activist of a Saharawi collective living in Belgium, has been infected several times between January and June.

Mahjoub Mleiha was born in Western Sahara, an area that is the subject of strong tensions between Morocco, who claims sovereignty on this vast territory, and the Polisario Front, a movement calling for independence or self-determination, supported by Algeria. Mr. Mleiha, who obtained Belgian nationality in 2017, is responsible for external relations for the Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders, and participated in meetings with many diplomats and MEPs.

“This 1 November, I received an e-mail from the US State Department,” he explained to Knack and evening. When I opened this message On my iPhone, I noticed that it was already marked as “read”, even before I opened it. It was at that moment that I understood that someone was watching my phone. “

The analysis of his phone confirmed the presence of traces of Pegasus, but not to determine with certainty the identity of a sponsor. The latter, however, does not matter for Mr. Mleiha: Moroccan secret services. “Who else? Belgians? I do not think so. I do not see who other than Moroccan secret services could have done that,” he says. Mr. Mleiha intends to file a complaint in Belgium.

Targers by Rwanda on the Belgian soil

In July, Knack, in the evening, Le Monde and a dozen other writing, coordinated by Forbidden Stories with the technical support of the Security Lab of Amnesty International, had revealed the magnitude of the diversion of the Spy PEGASUS software , used on a large scale to monitor lawyers, journalists or human rights defenders by several states. In France, many activist for self-determination of Western Sahara had been targeted on behalf of Morocco. The Cherifian kingdom denies being a client of the spyware, despite many technical evidence attesting to its involvement, and lodged a complaint for defamation against several French media, including Le Monde.

Mahjoub Mleiha is the fourth victim of Pegasus known on the Belgian soil. In July, Amnesty International’s experts had already confirmed the infection of a phone used by Carine Kanimba, Paul Rusesabagina’s daughter, hero of Rwandan genocide today imprisoned in Kigali at the end of an unfair trial. The presence of the spyware was also found on the telephones of the journalist Peter Verlinden and his wife, Marie Bamultse; The Belgian intelligence services consider that these attacks have “most likely” triggered by Rwanda, whose authorities also have to be users of Pegasus.

Nso Group, the Israeli society that sells Pegasus, told Knack and evening “having no information about people who are monitored by its customers”.

/Media reports.